Besides determining how much “big-box” retail employees are paid in Chicago, Wednesday’s City Council vote on a controversial minimum-wage ordinance is bound to be viewed as a new test of Mayor Richard Daley’s power.
For years, Daley has enjoyed what critics have characterized as rubber-stamp control over the council. But the mayor has been plagued by a federal investigation into contracting and hiring fraud in his administration, and political organizations loyal to him that have done his bidding at election time have gone out of business as a result of the probe.
Daley’s problems have prompted some aldermen, formerly considered under his thumb, to begin to show some independence. And this sets the stage for Wednesday’s vote.
An 11th-hour flash of passion by Daley on the minimum wage ordinance could sway some new support his way, aldermen said Tuesday.
But the fate of the measure was too close to call fewer than 24 hours before Wednesday’s council roll call. Daley, who opposes the ordinance as anti-business and a roadblock to economic development, on Monday called for its defeat unless it undergoes dramatic amendment. But some aldermen said his forceful comments at a City Hall news conference may have come too late to change many minds.
“In the old days, you would have gotten calls [from mayoral aides] early on in the process,” said one council member who asked not to be identified. “There would have been a much greater effort to nip this in the bud. … Frankly, it’s a little late in the ballgame, given [aldermanic supporters] have gone on record and it is a popular issue and it would be politically costly” to reverse course.
Aldermen privately speculated that Daley has been distracted by the federal investigation, realizes his power over the council has diminished or simply did not think that the big-box ordinance would gain as much traction as it has.
“From everything I hear, everyone is holding firm,” said Ald. Joe Moore (49th), sponsor of the measure, who believes that 30 to 32 of the council’s 50 aldermen will vote for passage.
But Ald. Patrick O’Connor (40th) was a bit less sure.
“If I were a betting man, there are probably enough votes to pass. But it is getting closer and closer,” he said. “As you get closer to the time of a vote, more people are focusing on the issues, and I think there is a little flex in some members of the council.”
O’Connor, a staunch Daley supporter, nevertheless said he intends to vote in favor of the ordinance.
“I think it’s a lot closer than what it was probably a week ago,” said Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), who opposes the measure. “I believe [some] people will make up their mind even up to right before the vote.”
The ordinance would apply to stores with 90,000 square feet or more that are operated by companies with at least $1 billion in annual sales. The minimum pay for employees would be $9.25 an hour and $1.50 in benefits beginning next July, rising to $10 and $3, respectively, by 2010. Cost-of-living increases would apply annually after 2010.
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Ald. Edward Burke (14th) said that “furious lobbying” was continuing on both sides of the issue.
TV ads, news conferences, City Hall demonstrations and cards, letters and automated calls to aldermanic offices all were part of highly orchestrated campaigns to sway opinion.
At the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church about 30 members of Metro Seniors in Action turned out Tuesday morning to win Ald. Arenda Troutman’s support for the ordinance.
Cassandra Sudduth, the alderman’s chief of staff, told the group that Troutman (20th) had not made up her mind.
“The alderman is the voice of the people, and she’s looking at what the people are saying,” Sudduth said after the meeting. “This is one group. Other people are saying something else. She’s weighing the pros and cons.”
Outside the Harold Washington Cultural Center at 47th Street and King Drive Tuesday evening, about 100 activists gathered to march in favor of the ordinance. Security officers shooed the marchers, who came with placards, away from the center, which was hosting the Chicago Freedom Movement conference.
The marchers then walked a few blocks up and down 47th before settling in a vacant lot at the southwest corner of 47th and King. The group’s chants–including “What do we want? A living wage! When do we want it? Now!–echoed throughout the busy intersection, and motorists honked their car horns in solidarity.
“It’s exciting,” said Ken Snyder of Grassroots Collaborative, which organized the event. “We’ve got a big vote tomorrow.”
Unions, as well as some community and religious groups, support the measure.
On the opposite side are other community and religious groups, business organizations, Wal-Mart, Target and other big-box retailers–and Daley.
“Early on, he felt confident that logic would prevail, that the proponents of the legislation would see that the downsides far outweigh the benefit,” said Jacquelyn Heard, the mayor’s press secretary. “People need jobs. Neighborhoods need development.”
Heard insisted that Daley has been strongly opposed to the ordinance from the start, and she denied assertions by aldermen that his staff failed to lobby the City Council early on.
The mayor is unaccustomed to losing council fights over legislation, but Heard acknowledged Wednesday’s vote was “too close to call.”
Daley has declined to say whether he would veto the ordinance if it wins approval.
It would take 34 votes to override a veto.